A Birthday to Remember
by TartanLioness
Summary: When the team decides to surprise Boyd, they get more than they bargained for. Grace/Boyd.


Title: A Birthday to Remember

Author: TartanLioness

Summary: The team decides to surprise Boyd for his birthday. Instead, they are the ones who are surprised.

Pairing: Grace/Boyd

--

"I can't believe you didn't manage to reach Grace," Mel accused Spence as she picked the lock. "Not only would he have forgiven her anything and thus our asses wouldn't be on the line, we'd also have a bloody key," she grumbled.

"She's in Scotland giving that lecture and you know it," Spencer returned, looking up and down Probart Road for people who might demand an answer from the three young people breaking into Detective Superintendent Boyd's home.

"It'll be fine," Frankie said, calmly avoiding an argument between the other two.

They were all dressed lightly in the warmth of mid-July. It was Saturday and there were no open cases so the team hadn't been in today. Instead, the three younger members of the Cold Case Unit had spent the day at Frankie's, planning their surprise for Boyd's 55th birthday. Grace had been supposed to be returning from her week off that day, but they hadn't been able to get a hold of her.

Boyd was laid back, resting on his sofa, holding a tumbler of whiskey in his hand. Fifty-five years, he mused. He felt old. He'd never particularly liked birthdays and certainly not since his son had gone missing and his marriage had ended; at least when he had had a family, there'd been someone to celebrate with.

All that had changed with Grace.

She'd arrived home from her week off just after three o'clock and had gone straight to his place. He had missed her while she was in Edinburgh, and although he wasn't about to admit that out loud, he knew that his actions told her all about it. She was a very intelligent woman after all.

He had taken her suitcase from her grasp, put it on the floor in his living room and taken her in his arms. She had wished him a happy birthday and had taken his hand, leading him to his bedroom.

After they had made love, he had held her, enjoying the feeling of her in his arms and realising again how much he had actually missed her. He had berated himself silently for missing her so much; he wasn't a man who enjoyed depending on others for his happiness. They had talked for over an hour, quietly, privately and then her breathing had evened out and she had fallen asleep. Boyd had smiled to himself. She had probably been up early in order to be back in London at a decent hour to celebrate his birthday. He kissed her hair softly and settled in to sleep.

Now they were both finally out of bed and Grace was in his kitchen making dinner. She'd offered to take him out; he'd offered to cook, wanting her back in his bed as soon as possible. She had laughed at him and said that if he wanted a home-cooked meal, she'd be the one to make it. So she had sat him down on his sofa with his whiskey, had poured herself a glass of red and had set about dinner.

Now Boyd watched her rummaging around in his kitchen, barefoot and humming softly to herself, her hair still wet from the shower they had taken earlier, and somehow the pleasure and calm happiness he felt at the domestic scene didn't bother him at all.

"I still think we should have called Boyd first," Spencer said, suddenly nervous, glancing down at the steaming pizzas in his hands.

"He knows it's his birthday," Frankie implored as if speaking to a child. "And he knows I know it. If we had called first, he would have come up with some excuse to avoid it."

Mel gave a small exclamation of joy when the lock finally clicked. It had taken her longer than usual but then, Boyd wouldn't let his house be that easy to break into. She pushed open the door inaudibly and the three pranksters quietly slipped into his hall. All seemed quiet for a moment and they began to wonder if their boss was even home – but they _had_ seen his car after all. Slowly their ears picked up a faint sound coming from his telly. Then they heard a curse followed by bark of laughter and looked at each other, continuing their silent journey towards the living room door.

Boyd jumped up from the sofa when Grace suddenly stopped humming and swore loudly. She then put her hand under the cold jet of water flowing from the tap and he laughed at her. She turned to him, still holding her burnt hand under the water and stuck out her tongue at him – it was silly, but Boyd made her silly. She was ridiculously happy these days and in love up to her eyeballs. They were always professional in the office, but when they came home, they teased more, bantered more and laughed more. There were arguments of course, but they were brief and mostly confined to the office anyway.

To apologise for laughing at her pain, Boyd went to stand behind her as she stirred the pots, putting his arms around her waist and kissing her neck and shoulders. Grace leaned her head back, resting it against his shoulder and allowing him greater access. She loved it when he kissed her neck.

Not about to make a subtle entrance, the three pushed open the door and marched into Boyd's living room.

"Happy birthday, Boyd!" they all called… then stared. Because in the kitchen stood their boss, snuggling – if such a word could even be used to describe anything Boyd did – the missing member of the team, both barefoot and wet-haired and obviously in the middle of making dinner. And they were both staring at the three junior members with horror written on their faces.

For a few long moments, no one dared to speak. Finally, Grace gave a small hiccup of laughter and turned around in Boyd's arms, burying her face in his chest, laughing merrily.

"Well," she said, looking up at Boyd. "I guess I'm not the only one who wanted to celebrate you, Peter."

"Oh, my God," Mel, Frankie and Spencer breathed simultaneously. Mel and Spencer looked suitably abashed; Frankie looked like the cat that got the cream.

"I think we'd better… go," Spencer said uncomfortably.

"No, I think you'd better stay, Spence," Boyd said before the younger man could usher the two women out of the house. "Please."

Spencer looked undecided and Grace nodded with a kind smile, disengaging herself from Boyd's arms.

"How about a glass of wine?" she asked them, gesturing to the sofas. Spencer held up the pizzas and she looked at them and then back at the dinner she was making. "Well," she said with an air of decision. "Dinner can be frozen and reheated some other time." She took the pizzas from Spencer and set them on the kitchen counter, telling Boyd to offer their colleagues something to drink and set the table. She turned the cooker off and began to cut the pizza.

"Get me some plates, please, Peter," she said, not looking up. She heard him move and soon five plates were set next to her. She looked up at him briefly, smiling reassuringly. "We can't avoid this now," she whispered to him, knowing that he would rather have kept their relationship a secret. "They already know, we can't ignore that."

He nodded, an air of impending doom about him. She laughed at his solemn expression and nudged him in the ribs.

Grabbing her glass of wine, Grace helped Boyd put the plates on the table and smiled at the others. Suddenly, all her best intentions were blown away and she had no idea what to say to her colleagues. They already knew that she and Peter were together; how was she going to explain it? She looked at Boyd uncertainly. He was looking at the younger three with a straight face.

Suddenly she felt his hand on her knee and she took a hold of it with her own hand, seeking reassurance. If Mel, Frankie and Spencer noticed that their hands had disappeared under the table, they didn't comment. Grace finally opened her mouth to explain, but Boyd beat her to it.

"Grace and I are in a relationship, yes. A serious relationship. So deal with it and eat your pizza before it gets cold."

For a moment, the three young team members stared at Boyd, their mouths hanging open. Frankie was the first to recover and she smiled brilliantly. She calmly grabbed a slice of pizza and took a bite of it, waiting for the other two to collect themselves.

"Bloody hell," Mel finally said, glancing from one to the other.

Grace smiled uncertainly, squeezing Boyd's hand under the table. She turned her eyes to Spencer, who was still staring at them as though they'd grown an extra head. Finally he seemed to get a grip and a smile broke out on his face. Later, he decided, he'd warn Boyd not to hurt Grace. Later. But not now.

"Well, it's about time," he smiled.

THE END


End file.
